


Generally Speaking

by sg_wonderland



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-05
Updated: 2013-06-05
Packaged: 2017-12-14 01:58:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/831408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sg_wonderland/pseuds/sg_wonderland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Marines thump Daniel and General Hammond tries to prevent all-out war. Kind of a day-in-the-life from the good general’s POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Generally Speaking

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old fic that features General Hammond.

1132 Hours

I just stand here, in my usual place, as SG-3 pounds down the ramp. All four regular team members and one slight addition, present and accounted for. 

I still get that same clench in my gut when those chevrons light up, the gate starts turning. If that feeling ever goes away, I figure it’s time to hang up the General’s stripes and slink away toward retirement.

“SG-3, welcome home. I can see you’re all safe and sound.”

None of them will meet my eyes as they hand their arms off and my suspicion automatically ratchets up a notch. “Something you want to tell me, Colonel Makepeace?”

“Why don’t you guys go on down to the infirmary and I’ll be right there. Sir, is Colonel O’Neill around?” 

Two things register with me simultaneously. Daniel Jackson is slipping out behind the rest of SG-3 and he has yet to remove the helmet that he constantly complains about wearing. I’m adding that with Makepeace’s oh-so-casual inquiry about Jack and I don’t like the sum I’m getting.

“Dr. Jackson,” I bellow just as he nears the gate room door. I see him flinch, hesitate, before he turns.

“Sir? Just heading to the infirmary,” he starts to inch away.

“Halt, soldier!” Everyone in the room, including Dr. Jackson, freezes. This is a tone they don’t often hear and never addressed to him. “Front and center, Dr. Jackson. Now.” He obeys instantly; Jack’s trained him well. 

Stopping in front of me, he still refuses to meet my eye. “Daniel.” That does it, his head jerks up in surprise, as I never use his Christian name. And I am treated to an up close look at a doozy of a black eye. “Take off the helmet.” My voice is clipped, harsh. I’ve seen the results of enough fights to know what this is.

Grimacing, he reluctantly eases if off. I can’t stop myself; I step forward and gently take his chin in my hand, as if he were a child, as if he were my child. Because, to me, they all are. 

“Makepeace, would you care to explain this?” Dr. Jackson flinches as I turn his face to the side, into the light. Along with the black eye, there’s an angry looking welt on his temple and down the side of his face, not to mention a vicious cut slashing his cheekbone. I don’t know how the hell he thought he was going to hide this.

“Show me your hands, Dr. Jackson.” He’s mystified but drops his helmet and holds them out. My voice softens, as it inevitably does when I speak to Dr. Jackson. “Son, go get that looked at. Then report to my office.”

“Yes, sir,” he slips away after glancing at Makepeace.

I reach down to retrieve Dr. Jackson’s forgotten helmet and see the blood on it. “Makepeace?” I’m sure he hasn’t failed to notice the chill that has descended over my voice. “My office, now.”

“Sir, the infirmary..”

“Can wait. Obviously you aren’t in need of Dr. Fraiser’s care. Which is more than I can say for a member of your team.” 

 

As soon as we step into my office, Walter follows me in. “Colonel O’Neill’s on his way, sir.”

That’s what comes from surrounding yourself with good people, I didn’t even have to tell Walter that I wanted Jack. “Thank you, Walter. Would you take care of Dr. Jackson’s helmet?” He takes it with him as he leaves; I’d prefer Jack not see the blood on it. 

I wave Makepeace toward a seat. “Let’s wait on Colonel O’Neill, shall we? I know he’ll be just as interested as I am to find out exactly what happened to Dr. Jackson.”

“What about Daniel?” Jack is standing in the doorway, eyes shooting accusingly. “Makepeace, did I not tell you...?”

“Colonel, sit down, he’s fine.”

“Sir, I’m just going to check...”

I interrupt him. “I’ve already instructed Dr. Jackson to report here after his exam. Makepeace was just going to tell us how Dr. Jackson got hurt.”

Jack sits reluctantly, still madder than hell. I know, I’ve seen that look enough times.

“Craft and Bayes just got into a, well, a little misunderstanding, sir. Nothing serious, sir, really. Stuff happens on missions.” He looks over at Jack. If he was expecting back up there, he was definitely barking up the wrong tree; those eyes are now ice-covered.

“Care to explain how the hell Dr. Jackson ended up with the black eye?” I sigh. “Sit down, Jack. I told you, he’s fine.”

“They just, well, they got into a little shouting match, sir, and then one of them shoved the other and Dr. Jackson...”

“No, let me guess,” Jack raises his hand. “Daniel tried to break it up?”

“Yes, sir. I don’t think they meant to hit him, Colonel.”

“They? They both hit him?” He’s on his feet again. “General, permission to find those two jarheads and beat the shit out of them?”

“Permission denied,” I can’t keep the chuckle out of my voice. Only Jack would ask my permission to thump someone. “And Dr. Jackson did not strike either one of them?” I already know the answer, his hands had told me that much.

“No, sir, Dr. Jackson did not.”

At least he hadn’t tried to lie his way out of it. “As of now, Craft and Bayes are on suspension. If there is one thing I will not stand, it is fighting with each other. Hell, we have enough to contend with trying to fight the Goa’uld. And I absolutely will not condone striking a civilian, regardless of the circumstance. If they’re lucky, they won’t be court-martialed. Colonel Makepeace, you need to ask yourself two questions. How does this reflect on your command? And what are you going to do about Teal’c?”

“Oh, shit,” Jack leaps up yet again. “Sir, permission to go...?”

“Granted.” He’s out the door like a shot. If Teal’c finds out before Jack calms him down, none of these guys are safe. 

“Makepeace, report to the infirmary. Then I want you and your team here in my office at oh-one-hundred hours with a written report.” He salutes and nearly runs for the door. Yeah, I would, too. It’s a toss-up over who Makepeace should be more afraid of, Jack or Teal’c. I chuckle again as I picture that confrontation; I just hope I don’t have to suspend someone else.

 

1242 Hours  
There’s a soft knock on my door, I glance up to see Dr. Jackson standing there, shifting from foot to foot. “Come in, have a seat.” I put my pen down and give his face a good look. In the harsh light of my office, it looks even worse than it did before. I feel sure that cut on his face would be an exact match to the frames of his glasses. 

“How are you, Dr. Jackson?” Dr. Fraiser has already bent my ear about his injuries. Superficial, that’s what she said, looks worse than it is. It still looks pretty bad.

“I’m fine, sir, nothing’s broken.” He raises his hand to touch one of those butterfly bandages, but stops himself.

“Dr. Jackson, I’ve had a cursory report from Colonel Makepeace. I’d like your version of what happened.” He sighs, but basically tells me the same thing. Bayes and Craft had gotten into a fight, he had tried to stop them. “Dr. Jackson, I certainly don’t condone what they did, but you should never have stepped in. That was Makepeace’s place to do that.”

“Sir,” he bites his lip.

“Let me guess, he was just gonna let them fight it out.”

Dr. Jackson nods. “I couldn’t just stand there and let them fight like that, General. It’s just not right.”

“I understand that, Dr. Jackson. But let me ask you a question. What if that had been SG-1? And Teal’c and Jack had been fighting, would you have stepped in?”

“Oh, God, no,” he grins before he can stop himself. “Sir,” he adds belatedly.

“Why not?” I have to work to keep an answering smile off my face.

“Because one of them would have killed me.”

“Well, think about that the next time two Marines are fighting, son. And try to stay out of it. Now, Dr. Fraiser is sending you home to get some rest.”

“But, sir, I need...”

“Whatever it is, it can wait. Today’s Tuesday; I don’t want to see you in here before Friday morning, and that’s an order. Dr. Fraiser says you’re not to drive, so I’ll have you picked up in your office. Dr. Jackson,” he stops at the door. “Between O’Neill and Teal’c, who would you bet on?”

That grin again. “Never bet against Teal’c.”

And that gives me a sudden inspiration, how to kill two birds with one stone. After he leaves, I buzz Walter and ask him to find Teal’c for me. Good thought, I congratulate myself. Have someone keep an eye on Dr. Jackson and get Teal’c out of the war zone at the same time.

 

1258 Hours  
Another knock on my door. Yet another member of SG-1. “Teal’c. Dr. Jackson requires someone to drive him home. I’d like you to do that, and stay with him. Dr. Fraiser wants him to rest for a couple of days, and well, you know Dr. Jackson. I told him I don’t want to see him until Friday, I’m counting on you to make that happen. And, Teal’c, make sure he leaves empty handed, I don’t want him taking work with him.”

Teal’c inclines his head. “It will be my pleasure, General Hammond.”

As he’s leaving, yet another knock. And I call, “come in,” before glancing at the clock. And I belatedly realize that it’s SG-3. Teal’c moves toward them. “Stand down, Teal’c.” If he’s inclined to whoop these guys, there’s not a helluva lot I can do about it.

“Which of these men harmed Daniel Jackson?”

I get between Teal’c and the Marines. Didn’t I just tell Dr. Jackson not to do this? “Teal’c, Dr. Jackson is waiting for you.” I can’t think of anything else that might get through. He stares at all of SG3 before bowing to me and gliding to the door.

“Another time,” he promises as he departs.

And we all release a deeply held breath, talk about dodging a bullet. I motion toward the door. “The briefing room, gentleman, and you can tell me why you felt called upon to strike a civilian.”

And they all give me their version, which is basically unchanged. Yes, they were arguing, yes, they shoved each other and yes, when Dr. Jackson tried to break them up, they did in fact hit him. Both of them.

“Sergeants Bayes and Craft, you are suspended from gate travel for one month. You will receive your new assignments next week. The cost for Dr. Jackson’s medical care and his replacement glasses will come out of your pay. And before you can return to gate duty, you will attend 20 hours of anger management sessions. Colonel Makepeace will be attending these classes with you. And you will all three publicly apologize to Dr. Jackson. If I hear of any other altercations, I will not hesitate to recommend a court-martial. Is that clear?”

I get a round of ‘yes, sir’ and salutes before I dismiss them. “Makepeace, a minute please?” He stays behind as his team slinks away in disgrace. “Have you spoken to O’Neill?” If I know Jack, he’s already cornered one or all of the Marines.

“No, sir, I haven’t seen him since this morning.” He looks at his shoes, then finally meets my eyes. “To be honest, sir, I’m trying to avoid him.”

“Good plan, Colonel. I’d stick to it if I were you.” He salutes as he, too, leaves in disgrace.

I return to my office and just sit for a few moments. I know a lot of people think Jack O’Neill is the biggest headache I have. In fact, he is one of the finest officers I’ve ever served with. Yes, he’s unconventional and can be a bit of a loose cannon when it comes to subjects about which he is passionate. To his credit, he has managed, despite tremendous odds, to take four people with little in common and build one of the best teams I’ve ever commanded. But I can’t see him ever letting two members of that team duke it out on an alien planet. He’d be more inclined to get them back Earth-side and set them up with boxing gloves in the gym. 

Not that I could picture any members of SG1 hitting each other. I know Jack is constantly threatening Dr. Jackson, but he’s just blowing off steam. The least likely would, of course, have to be Dr. Jackson. He would much rather find a peaceful solution than fight. Wonder from which parent had he gotten his pacifist leanings? And I wonder what they would make of their gentle son all decked out in a military uniform, carrying a weapon. Not the life most mothers would wish for their sons.

But the truth is, Dr. Jackson makes a fine soldier. He will fight when he has to. I know he’s taken a few shots that should have been Jack’s, a fact that Jack hates. He’d much prefer it to be the other way around, that’s what COs are for.

The intercom interrupts my thoughts. “Yes? Please, send him in.” Speak of the devil. 

“Sir, about Daniel..”

I hold my hand up. “I’ve sent him home with Teal’c, who’s going to keep an eye on him for a couple of days.”

He points at me as he sits down. “You’re a smart man, General.”

“Not quite smart enough. I didn’t get Teal’c out of here before SG-3 got here.”

He glances around. “I can’t even see the blood splatters on the wall, cleaning crew did a great job.”

“Good one, Jack. I managed to persuade Teal’c that Dr. Jackson’s health was his main priority. I want you to promise me that you’ll keep Teal’c away from them, I’d hate to have to suspend him, too.”

He shrugs. “I’ll do my best, sir. But I just spent the past thirty minutes trying to persuade Carter that she didn’t have to kill someone.”

Dammit, I’d forgotten about Major Carter. “Mad, was she?”

“Does the term ‘mama bear’ mean anything to you? I mean, it was like the schoolyard bully had worked her little Daniel over for his lunch money. She really wanted to have a go at them.” His eyes gleam with amusement.

Recalling my conversation with Dr. Jackson, I realize I wouldn’t bet against Major Carter either. She’s another fine officer and she feels strongly about her teammates, especially Dr. Jackson. “I hope you assured her that he wasn’t seriously hurt.”

“That’s the only thing keeping her from kicking some Marine ass. That and the fact that she didn’t actually see Daniel’s face, thank you for getting him out of here so quickly, by the way. I’m afraid once she gets a look at him, I’m in it again. We’re meeting at his house for dinner tonight, why don’t you stop by, sevenish? I could use some back-up with Carter, she can be downright scary.” He shudders.

“Jack, I’ve ordered all of SG-3 to take anger management courses. Get with Captain Sikes and schedule a day.”

“You want me to take a class with them?”

“No, I want you to teach them a class. On how to integrate civilians into their team.”

He stands and grins. “You truly are a wicked man, Mon General. See ya at Daniel’s.” He sketches a salute as he saunters out the door.

 

1604 Hours  
Things have calmed down considerably. Teal’c and Dr. Jackson have departed the base and I think Jack has persuaded Major Carter not to kill anyone. At least not today.

Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get out of here on time today. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll take Jack up on his offer to join his team for dinner. I’d like to see how Jack talks Major Carter out of killing SG-3.


End file.
